Method of treating the corners of planar polygonal workpieces

ABSTRACT

A planar workpiece of polygonal outline, such as a metal frame for use as a spacer in thermally insulating glass is stood on its edge and transported to a manipulator which tilts the workpiece about a horizontal axis to position one of its corners in a treatment location where it can be, for instance, soldered or brazed. Thereafter the workpiece is tilted over and set on an edge and either transported away to another such treatment location or positioned with its next corner in the same treatment location. The manipulator which tilts the workpiece in an upright position can be a plate with four sides or a pair of arms pivotal between horizontal and vertical positions.

United States Patent [191 Lang et a1.

[ Dec. 23, 1975 METHOD OF TREATING THE CORNERS OF PLANAR POLYGONALWORKPIECES [75] Inventors: Joseph Lang, Wurttemberg, Upper Palatinate;Helmut Meckenstock,

Waltrop; Hans-Joachim Nopper, Oberkoplitz, all of Germany [73] Assignee:Flachglas Aktiengesellschaft Delog-Detag, Gelsenkirchen, Germany 22Filed: July 15,1974

21 App1.No.:488,772

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 402,577, Oct. 1,1973.

[52] US. Cl. 228/212; 198/19; 198/237;

228/6; 228/38; 228/47 [51] Int. Cl. 823K 37/04 [58] Field of Search228/6, 36, 37, 38, 47,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Livingston et a1. 228/38Lindner 198/237 Seigh et a1. 198/237 X Primary ExaminerFrancis S. HusarAssistant ExaminerGus T. Hampilos Attorney, Agent, or Firml(arl F. Ross;Herbert Dubno 57 ABSTRACT A planar workpiece of polygonal outline, suchas a metal frame for use as a spacer in thermally insulating glass isstood on its edge and transported to a manipulator which tilts theworkpiece about a horizontal axis to position one of its corners in atreatment location where it can be, for instance, soldered or brazed.Thereafter the workpiece is tilted over and set on an edge and eithertransported away to another such treatment location or positioned withits next corner in the same treatment location. The manipulator whichtilts the workpiece in an upright position can be a plate with foursides or a pair of arms pivotal between horizontal and verticalpositions.

1 Claim, 15 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet10f5 3,927,819

U.S. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 2 of5 3,927,819

m wE at EU \N k 00000000 000 OOOOOOOO/ US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 3of5 3,927,819

US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet4of5 3,927,819

METHOD OF TREATING THE CORNERS OF PLANAR POLYGONAL WORKPIECES This is adivision of application Ser. No. 402,577, filed Oct. 1, 1973.

I. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system fortreating the corners of a planar workpiece of polygonal outline. Morespecifically this invention concerns a method of soldering or brazingthe corners of metallic frames such as used to separate sheets of glassin thermally insulating windows or the like.

2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the production of metal frames used toseparate the two sheets of glass used in thermally insulating glass soldunder the name of Thermopane it is necessary to attach the straighthollow mitered metal bars together very securely. It is almostinvariably necessary to make each thermal pane to order, that is, to aspecific size required by the customer since it is impossible to cutdown a finished sheet. The bars must be cut by a skilled worker andmitered accurately, which is a relatively simple operation. Then it isconventional to secure the corners together with small L-shapedreinforcements that fit inside the hollow bars. Finally each corner issoldered or brazed. This latter operation is usually carried out bypulling the assembled frame around on a large flat table and maneuveringeach corner into a treatment station where it is soldered or brazed.This latter operation is difficult and takes up an inordinate amount ofroom.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the presentinvention to provide an improved system for treating the corners of aplanar workpiece of polygonal outline.

Another object is the provision of a method of treating the corners of aframe such as is used in the production of thermal insulating glass.

I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These objects are attained according to thepresent invention in a system wherein the workpiece is transportedstanding on its edge in an upright condition along a generallyhorizontal guide to a treatment station provided with means formanipulating the workpiece in an upright condition to position at leastone of the corners in the treatment station which is provided with atreating tool. After treatment of the corner the workpiece is set againon its edge on a downstream run of the guide which transports it awayfrom the treatment station. In this manner the assembled frame is movedin a vertical plane so that relatively little floor space is taken up bythe device. In addition such an arrangement can be employed with aworkpiece of virtually any reasonable size, and it is simple to set itup for pentagonal, hexagonal, or otherwise polygonal workpieces.

In accordance with further features of this invention the manipluator isa support lying between the upstream and downstream runs of the guideand rotatable about a horizontal axis. This support has a plurality ofsides corresponding to the sides of the workpiece and is operatable oncethe workpiece is fed into it to position the corners of this workpiecesuccessively in the treatment station. The overall dimensions of thesupport are larger than the largest workpiece to be treated so that asthe support is rotated through 90 the workpiece slides into the nextcorner of the support to expose the next corner of the workpiece in thetreatment station.

According to another feature of the present invention the manipulator isa pair of arms each displaceable between a position level with or belowa respective run of the guide, and a position perpendicular to theguide. In this manner the downstream arm may be lifted into a verticalposition with the upstream arm down flat so that a workpiece can bemoved over the arm that is down and against the up arm whereupon thesearms are both pivoted toward the downstream direction through 45 to tiltthe workpiece and allow its corner to be treated. Thereafter furthertilting through 45 to bring the upstream arm up and the downstream armall the way down allows the workpiece to feed out of the manipulator.Thereafter the workpiece can move into another such maniuplator fortreatment of its next corner. It is also possible to flatten both armsat that time on the guides to allow the transport mechanism to move theworkpiece back upstream of the manipulator, whereupon the downstream armis again lifted and arrangement to adapt the device for the treatment ofnonsquare workpieces. i.e. ones having triangular, pentagonal or otherpolygonal shapes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects, features andadvantages of the present invention will become more readily apparentfrom the following description, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a first embodiment of the apparatusaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged-scale view of the detail indicated by arrow II ofFIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are sections taken along lines III III and IV IV of FIG.1;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are side and end elevational views, respectively, ofanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged-scale view of the detail indicated by arrow VII ofFIG. 5;

FIGS. 8A are schematic views illustrating one method of operating thedevice of FIGS. 5-7; and

FIGS. 9A-9D are schematic views illustrating another method of operatingthe device of FIGS. 5-7.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION As shown in FIGS. 1 4 a workpiece 4 is formed offour identical hollow bars 3 having mitered ends 6 and fitted togetherby means of L-shaped reinforcements 5 into a square. This workpiece 4 isintended for use as a spacer between panes of glass in so-calledThermopane and must be soldered or brazed at its corners 2.

The apparatus comprises a guide 7 formed of an upstream stretch 7a and adownstream stretch 7b separated by a manipulating station 1 having amanipulator 9 which maneuvers the corners 2 into a treatment station 10.

The stretches 7a and 7b are formed of upright supports 12 fitted withparallel horizontal slides 8 defining a plane tilted approximately 3 tothe horizontal. Rollers 8' are provided along the bottom edge of theguide 7 and are in line but define a path which is inclined from theupstream end to the downstream end so that a workpiece 4 rolls along itby the force of gravity while 3. it leans against the slides 8.

The manipulator 9 includes a large square plate 14 with cut off cornersthat is rotatable about a horizontal axis 13 and displaceable along thisaxis as shown byarrow 13'. One side of the plate l4is provided with arow 16 of rollers 17 which are secured to the plate 14 and can bealigned with the guide 7 as shown in FIG. 1 in dot-dash lines. The otherthree sides of the plate 14 are provided with rows of rollers 18 thatare. displaceable in the direction of arrow 13 relative to the plate bymeans of a cylinder 18'. The rollers 17 may be driven.

The treatment station 10 has a treatment tool 11, here a pair oftorches, and is provided with a clamping element 19 (see FIGS. 2 or 3)of triangular cross section. In use the manipulator 9 is placed in theposition shown in FIG. 1 in dot-dash lines with the'rollers l8retracted. The workpiece 4 can then roll from the upstream stretch 7ainto the manipulator, whereupon the rolls 18 are displaced by cylinder18" above the plate 14 and this plate is by a cylinder 13" displaced inthe direction shown by arrow through 45 to slide the workpiece 4 downinto the corner of the plate 14, with the corner 2 of the workpieceprojecting beyond the cut off corner 15 of the manipulator 9. To effectthis rotation the plate 14 is advanced slightly with rollers 17 and 18out of the plane of the guide 7 so as to clear this guide. The clampingelement 19 (see especially FIGS. 2 and 3) is then moved forward and downto hold the corner 2 firmly in place, and the torches 11 serve to solderthe bars 3 together. Thereafter the clamping element 19 is withdrawn andthe manipulator 9 is rotated through another 90 to position the nextcorner 2 of the workpiece 4 in the station 10. When all four corners 2have been soldered the manipulator 9 is again moved into the dot-dashposition, the rollers 18 are withdrawn, and the workpiece is rolled offonto the downstream guide 7b.

The arrangement shown in FIGS. 5-7 is similar in function to that ofFIGS. 1-4, but operates with a manipulator 30 comprising a pair ofindependently swiveling arms and 26. In addition a guide 31 is providedwhich comprises a plurality of rollers 21 which are rotated by belts 32driven by motors 33 so as to advance the workpiece 4 in either directionalong the guide 31. A plurality of upright parallel rollers 22 define asupport plane slightly tilted from the vertical and serve to support theworkpiece 4 as it is moved along the guide 31.

Each arm is provided with a plurality of rollers 34 which areinterleavable with the rollers 21. The arms 25 and 26 are pivotal aboutan axis 24 from horizontal positions flush with the guide 31 to verticalpositions lying on a plane 27 perpendicular to this guide. Each arm isswiveled by a respective motor 35 and motors 36 may be provided torotate the rollers 34. A plate 23 is provided set into the array ofrollers 22 so as to permit the various operating elements for the arms25 and 26 to pass through the guide 31. Each arm is also provided with ahydraulically actuated clamping arrangement 36 comparable to theclamping element 19 of FIG. 1. A

heated vessel 37 filled with solder is provided at the treatmentstation. 1

FIGS. 8A-8D show how the device can be used to treat a workpiece 4 whosecorners are marked I-IV. At first the arm 26 is lifted into plane 27 andthe arm 27 is flattened below the level of the rolls 21. The workpiece 4is lifted into the position shown in FIG. 8A by rotating the arms 25 and26 both through 45 to tip the corner I into the bath 37. Thereupon thearms are rotated again through 45 until the arm 25 is upright to standthe workpiece 4 up on the arm 26, and the arm 25 is lowered as shown inFIG. 88 while the drives are actuated to displace the workpiece back inthe direction of arrow 39. The arm 26 is then lifted as shown in FIG. 8Cand the workpiece is again tilted over as shown in FIG. 8D to treat thecorner II. In this manner the corners are treated successively.

It is possible as shown in FIG. 9 to provide four successivemanipulators 30 and treatment stations 37 on the same array of rollers22 so as to treat the first corner of the box much as shown in FIG. 8A.Then the workpiece 4 is set down and picked up as shown in FIGS. 98 and9C and treated in the next treatment station 37, and in the next and soon. The operations of the various drive elements are controlled by acentral programmer 38 to sequence the necessary motions in theappropriate order. The two arms 25 and 26 in this arrangement can belinked together so as always to extend at 90 to each other. A blower 39is provided downstream of each manipulator 30 to cool the freshlysoldered workpiece.

I claim: v 1

l. A method for treating a corner of a planar workpiece of polygonaloutline comprising the steps of:

standing said workpiece on its edge in an upright position; displacingthe standing workpiece horizontally along a conveyor to a treatmentlocation; tilting the standing workpiece and a portion of the conveyorat the treatment location about a horizontal axis to position a cornerthereof adjacent a treatment tool;

treating said corner with said tool by soldering the workpiece cornerwith said tool;

further tilting the workpiece after treatment thereof to stand same onthe conveyor downstream of said tool on an edge different from the edgethe workpiece stood on before treatment; and

displacing the workpiece in an upright condition along said portion ofthe conveyor back .past said tool after treatment thereof.

1. A method for treating a corner of a planar workpiece of polygonaloutline comprising the steps of: standing said workpiece on its edge inan upright position; displacing the standing workpiece horizontallyalong a conveyor to a treatment location; tilting the standing workpieceand a portion of the conveyor at the treatment location about ahorizontal axis to position a corner thereof adjacent a treatment tool;treating said corner with said tool by soldering the workpiece cornerwith said tool; further tilting the workpiece after treatment thereof tostand same on the conveyor downstream of said tool on an edge differentfrom the edge the workpiece stood on before treatment; and displacingthe workpiece in an upright condition along said portion of the conveyorback past said tool after treatment thereof.